Venetian blind construction



June10,1958 E. A. LANDO 2,838,110

VENETIAN BLIND CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 14, 1955 2 Sheets-,Sheet 1 INVENTORQ E///'5 4. Lana 0 June 10, 1958 E. A. LANDO VENETIAN BLIND CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 14, 1955 F'll'| E INVENTOR. [His ,4. Aer/0'0 ATTORNEYS VENETI'ANBLIND CONSTRUCTION Ellis A. Lando', Mill Valley, Calif. 7 Application January 14, lass, Serial No. 481,866

1 Claim. e1; red-16s This inventionrelates toa Venetian blind co'nst'ru'cti'oh andparticularly toa new'and novel way of mounting the lift cords in' such a manner that the slats which comprise' the blind need not be perforated.

'In the conventional Venetian blind; the lift cords are secured to the bottom rail, threaded throughregistering slots or orifices in the slats, reevedover a pair of pulleys and terminate in control cords which can be used by an operator to raise or lower the blind.

. The passing of the lift cord through slots in the slats has rendered it diflicult to clean the slats because removal of the slats is prohibited unless the cords are removed from the slots. Theremoval of the cord from the slots has in efiect heretofore constituted almost an entire disassembly of the blind and the replacement of the cord through the slots has" been, at best, an onerous burden.

It, is an object of this invention toprovide a means for mounting'the' lift cords without perforating the slats; and thereby provide a readily removable" and replaceable slat. It is a further object of this invention to provide a device of this kind which utilizes substantially standard components and which, therefore, requires a minimum changeover by manufacturers and distributors.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a simple attachment to the bottom rail which will permit the proper stacking of the slats. As is well known, stacking of the slats has heretofore been performed by the lift cords passing through the slots in the slats whereby the slats had to be maintained in registry since the slots were maintained in registry :by the cord which passed therethrough.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 represents a view of a Venetian blind in partially raised position illustrating my invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged view along the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail of a portion of the blind illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an end view of the portion illustrated in Figure 3;

Figure 5 illustrates a modification ofthe invention as illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 2 of a modification of the device illustrated in Figures 1-6 inclusive;

Figure 7 is an enlarged detail of a portion of the modification illustrated in Figure 6; and

Figure 8 is an end view of the structure illustrated in Figures 6 and 7.

As illustrated in Figure 1, I provide a Venetian blind consisting of imperforate horizontal slats 10 which are supported by a ladder tape construction 11. The ladder tape construction 11 is of conventional type and in general consists of a pair of parallel longitudinally positioned tapes 12 and 13, one on either side of the horizontal slats and provided with rung-like horizontal cross members 14 which support the slats 10. The lower end of 'ice theladder tape construction is secured to a bottom rail 16 and the-upperportion to av head rail' 17. Suitable means'for tilting the slats islprovid'ed, though not shown, the same being conventional in all" regards; in other word's,ttilting is obtained by tilting the head rail' in the conventional manner;

Raising and lowering a Venetian blind is accomplished by raising the bottom rail-16 and engaging and raising the slats progressively. I provide generally a pair of lift cords 18 which are suitably secured to theends 19' of the bottom rail 16 and which arelthread'ed over sheaves-21 and Hand terminate in a pair of control cords 23 which may be used by the operator to raise or lower the blind. The construction of the sheaves" 21' and' 22 is conventional but their position has been ,changed'from the conventibnal position" to apointadjacent the ends of. the head raill The'means' for attaching the cords 18 to the ends '19 of the b'ottom'rail'16 consists generally of a loop formed on the cord 18which is looped over an elongatedextending member, suchas a screw, which is preferably provided with. an enlarged head 24; It will be noted that the cords 18flie beyond the ends of the slats 10', thus dispensing with the necessity of providing slots in the slats, and occupy a position generally in a. vertical plane centrally disposed with respect to the slats and' coplanar with the axis of rotation of the slats.

Also adjacent the ends 19'of thebottom rail 16, I have provided a gathering or supporting. cage member 25 which is formed on a pair ofve'rtical members 26'which extend upwardlyfrorn the side of the bottom rail 16,, a pair of horizontal members, 27which are parallel to the bottom rail 16 and an end portion-28 which is, substantially coplanar with the end 19 of' the bottom rail 16. The members 26, 27 and 28 form in essence a cage which is slightly wider than the slats 10 and whose end members 28 are positioned a slightly greater distance apart than the length of the members 10. The members 28 may lie either within or beyond the vertical cords 18.

Operation of my device may briefly be described as follows: When a blind is raised the bottom rail 16 serves to gather the slats 10 as it is raised and the slats 10 fall within the confines of the vertical members 26 of the cage When the blind is lowered, the end cords 18 may be removed from the members 24 and the slats 10 may be slid longitudinally and removed from the ladder tapes 11 for cleaning. They may be replaced in the conventional manner, the end cords 18 may be replaced, and lateral movement of the members 10 will be prevented by the end cords 18.

In the modification illustrated in Figure 5, it will be noted that the cord 18 is secured to a member 24 in much the same manner as previously described and the cord 18 will lie beyond the ends of the slats 10. However, I have substituted a pair of vertical members 26a for the cage-like structure 25 as illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive. Although not illustrated in Figure 5, it is to be understood that there are two members 26a positioned on opposite sides of the bottom rail 16 and secured thereto in any suitable manner. The members 26a, like their counterparts 26, serve to gather the slats 10 as the bottom rail 16 is raised. The operation of a device incorporating this modification is substantially identical to the operation of the device illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive.

In the device illustrated in Figures 6, 7, and 8 I have shown a modification in which the cage structure 25 is pivoted on the pin 24 for rotation with respect to the bottom rail 16. Moreover, the end section 28 of the cage 25 is provided with a loop through which the cord 18 passes. Since the cord 18 supports the bottom rail 16 it will always -be taut. This being the case, since the cage 25 and the cord 18 are both pivotally mounted on the pin 24, the cage 25 will always be held in a substantially vertical position regardless of whether or not the bottom rail 16 is tilted. It will be apparent in the devices previously described herein andillustrated in Figures 1-6 inclusive that if the bottom rail is tilted, those devices being secured thereto will likewise be tilted. When the cage is tilted it does not act to gather the slats 10 as 1 wish and the structures illustrated in Figures 1-5 inclusive are practical only when the bottom rail is level. On the other hand, the device illustrated in Figures 6-8 inclusive is practical regardless of the positions of the bot tom rail 16.

Moreover in the modification illustrated in Figures 6-8 inclusive, the cord 18'lies between the cage and ends of the salts 10. While I have shown the loop which carries the cord 18 as'lying in a horizontal plane, it is to be understood that the loop may be smaller or may be dispensed with entirely and a notch in the end member of the cage 25 maybe substituted therefor, it being'important only that the cage in some manner engage the cord 18 so that it will be retained in a vertical position as previously described.

It is apparent that although I have illustrated a round wire type cage, relatively flatmaterial may be substituted therefor, thereby serving to reduce the space required for the cage. The saving of space is desirable when blinds are to be hung immediately adjacent each other or Where blinds are used in a corner and are mitered.

Furthermore, it will be noted that by positioning the lift cords at the ends of the bottom rail and thus eliminating the cords which'normally pass through aligned slots in the slats, I have provided a blind in which the slats, when tilted are adapted to lie closely adjacent to each otherand thus effectively control the passage of light when the slats are pivoted about their longitudinal axis into a more or less vertical position. An examination of the conventional Venetian blind reveals that the ends of the slots engage the pull cords when the conventional blind is tilted and the slats are thus prevented from assuming a true vertical position.

I claim:

In a Venetian blind construction, a top tilting rail, a bottom rail, ladder tapes connecting said rails, a plurality of slats supported by said tapes, means for raising said bottom rail, said means including a pull cord, and means for pivotally connecting the ends of the pull cord to the ends of the bottom rail intermediate the side edges of the bottom rail, the vertical portions of the cord being disposed at and confronting the opposite free ends of the slats, the pivotal connections of said pull cord permitting tilting movement of said bottom rail, and cage means mounted on the bottom rail adjacent each end thereof, said cage means including a pair of members pivotally mounted on said bottom rail and having portions extending upwardly at righttangles from the bottom rail, the portions having a predetermined height so that the members will receive the Venetian blind slats as they are gathered, said cage means also including guide means carried by said members, said guide means engaging said cord and servng to maintain said members in a substan tially vertical position when the bottom rail is in a tilted position, the members serving to prevent sidewise movement of the slats when the bottom rail is in a tilted position.

References .Cited' in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,242,697 Duca May 20, .1941 2,255,311 Butler et al. Sept. 9, 1941 2,266,479 Stahl Dec. 16, 1941 2,493,186 Delgaudio Ian. 3, 1950 

